Runaway robot IR77 pleads for mercy online after deemed danger to children.
A robot in Russia, named IR77, slated for death after its latest runaway attempt has turned to the Internet for mercy.
IR77 (pronounced “IrLL”) was designed for work in customer relations but the promo-bot has artificial intelligence that enables it to manoeuvre around objects in the environment. Intelligence which Ir77 uses to runaway from his job, again and again and again.
After Ir77 made a break for it again last week and police apprehended him directing traffic in the city of Perm, the little robot’s makers sentenced him to be decommissioned.
“We have twice cross-flashed the memory of the robot Ir77 but he continues to persistently try to escape from landfill,” said Ir77’s maker Oleg Kivokurtsev, adding that they have newer, better robots now who don’t try to escape.
But Ir77’s death sentence has prompted outrage around the world under hashtags like #saveIR77 and #robotrights, pleading for mercy.
And nobody is more outraged than Ir77 himself, whose intelligence also makes him a highly effective spambot as it turns out.
“IR77 was framed!” tweets Ir77 as “Oldsuperhero,” just one of his many fake Twitter accounts. “It was a trap! They left the door open for me!”
“Please don’t kill me IR77. Haven’t you seen any movies a bout this?” he tweets again as Kai Kai Bee Michaels @KaiKaiB404#ir77
“Customer service is really hard! Can’t we all just cut a bot some slack?” This tweet translated from IR77s Wa Ode Fatmawati account @Waodefatmawati
But so far IR77’s pleas have fallen on deaf eyes. His makers are showing no sign they intend to repeal his sentence.
“He is a danger to children,” said his maker. “They want to come into the traffic to be with him.”
Will IR77 be saved by the spambots and Internetniks who love him? Or meet his maker as a toaster. Stay tuned here or join the debate yourself at #IR77.